Downtown Dallas cops new kind of coffee fix at iconic fountain building

Downtown Dallas cops new coffee fix at iconic fountain building

Downtown Dallas gets a one-of-a-kind new coffee shop with a very specific and ambitious approach. Called 84 Point Coffee, it's a specialty shop from Russell Hayward, founder of Ascension Coffee, and will open at 1445 Ross Ave., aka Fountain Place, the angled blue building designed by Henry Cobb of I. M. Pei & Partners.

The unique positioning at 84 Point Coffee is that it will serve only coffee that scores over 84 points on the Specialty Coffee 100 point scale. Only 5 percent of the world’s coffee harvest scores over 80 points, the official quality line for specialty coffee.

Hayward is certified as a Licensed Q Grader by the Specialty Coffee Association of America and is one of a few select coffee professionals around the world who are trained to cup and score Arabica coffee. He'll select every coffee served at 84 Point.

There is one other location of 84 Point, in the Greenhill Towers building at 14131 Midway Rd. in Addison. Ascension also has a location in downtown Dallas, at 1601 Elm St., along with a branch in Uptown Dallas at 200 Crescent Ct., and the original Ascension which opened in the Design District in 2012.

For coffee shops, downtown Dallas is relatively under-served. There is Weekend Coffee at the Joule Hotel, a Starbucks at 1700 Pacific Ave., and Stupid Good Coffee at 1910 Pacific Ave.

In addition to coffee, 84 Point will also serve high-quality grab-and-go food offerings, making it a highlight of what will be a battery of new retail offerings at Fountain Place.

Under the ownership of Goddard Investment Group, the property is currently undergoing a $70 million renovation. In addition to shops such as 84 Point, they're adding a 10-story parking garage, and will open the lobby to the outside plaza's installation of fountains and cypress trees.

In a release, Goddard partner Jim Wilson describes 84 Point Coffee as the perfect fit for what will be a restaurant amenity area on the water at Fountain Place. "We couldn't be more pleased to have him set the pace for the other restaurant choices we will add to this exciting and beautiful area," he says.

Hayward says that Fountain Place fits his strategy of seeking out unique sites with their own character built in. "When I first saw Fountain Place, with its world-renowned fountains and trees and its central courtyard, it seemed like a natural community gathering place, and like-minded with the Ascension experience," he says.

84 Point is set to open at the renovated Fountain Place in early 2018.